Bonser Shuts Down Cubbies Cubs 0 at Twins 3 June 24th, 2006 at 11:30 pm

By Kris Richardson

The Twins pulled off a Saturday night victory against the Cubs in the game I thought the cubs had the best chance of winning in this series. In front of a crowd of over 42,000, half of which was made up of Cub fans, Boof Bonser was able to pitch shutout ball for 6 1/3 innings. Reyes and Rincon also held the Cubs scoreless in relief and Joe Nathan picked up his 12th save with a scoreless ninth.

Mark Prior was noticeably better than in his last start against Detroit. Prior didn’t allow a baserunner through the first 3 innings and didn’t allow a run until the fifth. The Twins rally started with a Torii Hunter walk and Jason Kubel singled to move Hunter to 3rd. Terry Tiffee’s single put the Twins on the board. Jason Bartlett then hit his fourth double in 10 games to add another run. Jason Kubel drove in a run in the 6th inning with a single that scored Justin Morneau. The 3 runs were all the Twins would score, but it was more than enough.

Game Notes

Joe Mauer was 1-4 in the somewhat publicized faceoff of the 2001 #1 and #2 draft picks.
Jason Kubel pushed his average above .300 with a 2-3 game.
Jason Bartlett extended his hit-streak to 10 games with his 5th inning double.
Boof Bonser got his second win of the season. He gave up 6 hits, but didn’t walk anyone and most importantly didn’t give up any homeruns.
Dennys Reyes and Juan Rincon were perfect in relief, combining for 1 2/3 innings.

Tough Central

The White Sox and Tigers both had come-from-behind wins on Saturday to keep the Twins at 11 games back. It’s frustrating that the Twins are playing well and not gaining any ground, but it’s surely better than not playing well.

Brad Radke will try to complete the sweep on Sunday as Derrek Lee is expected to return for the Cubs.